What: Visa launches Intelligent Commerce initiative to enable AI-powered shopping, alongside new stablecoin partnerships and expanded Flex Credential platform, leveraging its global network of 4.8 billion credentials and 150 million merchants.

Why it is important: This initiative signals a fundamental shift in retail commerce, where AI agents will become trusted intermediaries for consumer purchases, requiring new payment infrastructure and security frameworks.

Visa has unveiled its Global Product Drop featuring AI-enabled advancements that will transform how consumers discover and purchase products. The centerpiece announcement, Visa Intelligent Commerce, opens the company's payments network to developers building the first generation of AI commerce solutions. This initiative will enable AI agents to use Visa credentials at accepting merchant locations for any payment use case. The company has formed strategic partnerships with major AI platforms and tech companies including Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, and Samsung. Additionally, Visa announced new stablecoin partnerships and the expansion of its Flex Credential platform, which allows seamless toggling between payment methods. The company also introduced Visa Pay for wallet connectivity and Visa Accept for micro-seller payments. These innovations build on Visa's extensive experience, having processed 3.3 trillion transactions over the past 25 years, and aim to bring trust and security to AI-enabled payments.

IADS Notes: Visa's AI commerce initiative represents a significant evolution in retail payment technology. According to a16z in January 2025 , stablecoin adoption and reduced transaction fees are already transforming retail economics, with potential to increase profitability by up to 60% for major retailers. The Journal du Net's January 2025 analysis  highlighted how payment terminals are evolving beyond basic transactions, with AI enabling sophisticated personalisation and enhanced security measures. Visa's December 2024 retail monitor  demonstrated strong consumer spending across markets, indicating readiness for advanced payment solutions. BCG's March 2025 report  revealed that 71% of consumers now expect personalised interactions, with AI agents showing 15-30% improvement in customer service efficiency. Visa's announcement of Intelligent Commerce, building on its network of 4.8 billion credentials and 150 million merchants, suggests a fundamental shift in how consumers will discover and purchase products, with AI agents acting as trusted intermediaries for payment transactions. This transformation, supported by partnerships with major AI platforms and the introduction of new payment options like stablecoins and Flex Credentials, indicates a comprehensive evolution in retail payment infrastructure.

Visa announces new means of payment featuring AI